David Ortiz is in the middle of perhaps the best season of his career and had another big game last night. Big for its own sake and big for the milestone he passed: Otiz is now the all-time hit leader among designated hitters.

Ortiz passed Harold Baines on the list, rapping his 1,689th hit as a DH.

Nice touch: after the scoreboard at Safeco Field noted the accomplishment, the Seattle fans gave Ortiz a standing ovation. If anyone appreciates a good DH its Seattle, where Edgar Martinez plied his trade.

So far the Hall of Fame doors have been shut to Edgar Martinez, with the thinking being that a DH is somehow not deserving of a spot in Cooperstown. Or, at the very least, that a DH’s offensive contributions need to be head and shoulders above that of other players given his lack of defensive value. I don’t subscribe to this inasmuch as being one of the few best at your position should get you into the Hall, regardless of what that position entails. I think Edgar passes muster. I think David Ortiz certainly does too. And I think both of them should be, and one day will be, in the Hall of Fame.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports Thursday that the Orioles “are said to have begun fielding calls of interest” on superstar Manny Machado and “are close to the point of seriously weighing whether to trade him.”

You’d think it would be a no-brainer for the last-place O’s to flip Machado — an impending free agent — for prospects, but Heyman notes there is “still a question whether or not longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos” will give the go-ahead. One person familiar with the situation put it a “50-50” likelihood. Another suggested that it would take a massive return, which, sure.

Machado entered play Thursday with a sensational .328/.405/.635 batting line, 15 home runs, and an MLB-leading 43 RBI in 49 games. It’d be a real shock if he’s still wearing an O’s uniform by the end of July.

Heyman reported previously that at least nine teams made aggressive plays for Machado this winter, including the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Indians, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Cardinals. A whole lot of those teams still make sense here in late May — maybe all of them except the White Sox.